Folly Quarter Middle School science teacher Sherri Morisco can't wait for school to start to tell her students how she fulfilled her childhood dream this summer.

Sherri attended Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., after learning about it from John Quinn, Howard County Public Schools secondary science coordinator.

"Little did he know that I had wanted to attend Space Camp since I was 9. Growing up, 'astronaut in training' pretty much was my life," she said.

Morisco attended teacher workshops with 90 educators from 12 countries where they participated in simulated shuttle missions, experienced four times Earth's gravity and launched rockets.

During her first shuttle mission, Morisco was given the role of CAPCOM, the the sole person with communication links between the shuttle and mission control. She was commander for her second mission responsible for entire shuttle, including take off and landing.

"It was quite a taxing, stressful job," she said. "Every minute of it was pretty much amazing."

Boeing sponsored the event giving teachers from across the globe an experience they could not get anywhere elsewhere. Together, the "campers" worked on creating thermal protection shields for missions, got to meet Hoot Gibson, a former astronaut, and prepared to be teachers in space.

"It was one of the best weeks of my whole life," Morisco said.

Morisco, who has been at Folly Quarter for three years, teaches sixth-grade earth science and seventh-grade life science and is excited to return to school to implement what she learned in her classroom.

The Howard County Economic Development Authority wants to remind us that peaches don't just come from Georgia. In local farms and orchards peaches are ripening all over Howard County this month.

In our town, Baugher Orchards will be offering 12 different varieties of peaches, beginning with Red Haven and ending with Albertus, in the fall. The 86-year-old family-owned establishment also sells fresh-picked corn, watermelons, cantaloupe, squash, tomatoes and more grown right on the farm at its produce stand on New Cut Road. For more information, call 410-465-7053.

There will also be juicy, sweet peaches at Larriland Farm, in Woodbine, family-owned and operated by the Moore family since 1973, where you can pick-your-own fruit and vegetables or shop at their on-site farm market. Call 410-442-2605 or go to www.pickyourown.com for more information.

Howard County also has many roadside stands and farmers‚ markets that will carry healthy, ripe peaches for weeks to come. Harbin's Roadside Farm Market, off Route 99 in Marriottsville, sells several varieties of peaches grown by local farmers in Maryland; or you can stop by the farmers‚ markets in East Columbia, Glenwood and Oakland Mills. Call 410-313-6500 for directions or more information.

Clark's Elioak Farm celebrates the Enchanted Forest's 53rd Birthday and the first annual Enchanted Forest Employees Reunion Aug. 16 and 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All former employees are invited to attend and encouraged to bring copies of photos from the Enchanted Forest. There will be special albums to fill with the photos and a photo contest.

To celebrate the birthday new attractions are being introduced -- the Dish and the Spoon, the Three Men in the Tub and more. Meet Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, and Alice in Wonderland.

Visit your favorite petting farm animals, ride a pony, and take a hayride. Listen to fairy tales and get your face painted by Laura Renee Davis of Nouveau Face Painting.

See vintage Enchanted Forest photos and a DVD of the Enchanted Forest or own a "Piece of the Park" by purchasing either a one-of-a-kind stone from the wall around Cinderella's Castle painted by resident Enchanted Forest artist Monica McNew-Metzger or a shard from "Willie the Whale" framed in a wooden box.

Clark's Elioak Farm's 2008 season runs through Nov. 2. For more information, call 410-440-0295.

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